Alcohol and drugs
You are 19 and a friend asks you to carry an unopened bottle of wine in your car. When is that legal?
- Only if someone 21 or older is with you and the bottle is full, sealed and unopened. Correct answer
- Always, as long as the bottle stays sealed; the rules only cover open containers.
- Only if the bottle rides in the trunk, whatever your age and whoever is with you.
Why
Under 21 the handbook adds a person to the requirement, not just a seal. You may not carry any alcoholic beverage inside a vehicle unless someone who is 21 years old or older is with you, and the container has to be full, sealed and unopened. A sealed bottle on its own is therefore not enough, and neither is the trunk: the trunk is where an already opened container has to go, which is a different rule. There is one written exception, for work: if your employer holds an off-site liquor sales license, closed containers may ride with you as part of the job. Getting this wrong is expensive. Law enforcement may impound the car for as long as 30 days; a court can add a fine and a year without a license; and where there is no license yet, DMV can be asked to hold the first one back for up to a year.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Only if someone 21 or older is with you and the bottle is full, sealed and unopened.
The rule behind this one
California alcohol and drug rules for drivers goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on alcohol and drugs
- You are 16 and are convicted of riding a bicycle while under the influence of alcohol. What can happen to your driving privilege?
- Your doctor has prescribed a medicine that makes you drowsy. How does California's DUI law treat it?
- What does the handbook say about how age affects a driver's tolerance to alcohol?
- After a DUI stop you agreed to a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) and a breath test. Can you still be required to take a blood or urine test?